Abstract
An inelastic finite displacement analysis of arbitrary thin-walled open cross sectional members, using the finite element method, is presented. For the constitutive relation, the tangent modulus approach taking into account the contribution of the St. Venant shear stress to the yielding, is employed. In order to show the efficiency and versatility of this analysis, another analysis based on Prandtl-Reuss flow theory (abbreviated J2F) is developed. It is found that there is no significant difference in the results of the illustrative examples treated by the two analyses. Besides, the J2F based analysis is improved by including the shear stresses caused by non-uiform bending and torsion into the yield condition of von Mises.
